Many people know I've been a member of the SCA for 16 years. I started back in 1993, at a local event called Egil's, held in Eugene, Oregon, and I was hooked from that point on.

If you've never heard of the SCA, here's a quick primer: The group was started in Berkeley, when a few friends decided to get together for a theme wedding - they had so much fun with it, they decided to start having a group get-together every month... It grew, and eventually (after more than 20 years) became international, reaching Russia, Japan, Austrailia even... It's a non-profit organization, which means that membership is tax-deductable, and it centers on learning about life as it was from 700 A.D. (or, for you history students C.E.) to 1600 A.D. While the SCA centers upon life within the European culture, many members learn about life outside of that location, though they do try to keep within the timeline.

All the SCA asks is that you, as a participant, make an **attempt** at looking the part. They have "Gold Key" at most sanctioned events, where you can trade your ID for garb for the weekend, or put a deposit on garb. They also have groups in the area that can help you design your clothes, teach you how to sew them, and there's a plethora of websites and books available to use for patterning. They'd love to have you join and pay the yearly membership fee as well, but it's not mandatory.

So why, if it's this simple to start up and enjoy, have there been non-sanctioned events popping up like ever-increasing alien crop circles? Has the SCA *really* become that horrible, that people have felt the need to leave and make their own place elsewhere?

The answer, at least in my neck of the woods, is two-fold... Much of the non-sanctioned events that were created 10 years ago in our little area were because of the high level of drama that had been increasing within events like Egil's. Drama is never enjoyable, no matter where you are - but when you include the stress of running an event for 1000 people, and add in sharp, pointy objects and alcohol, it becomes even more fun - or not...

The drama, in this case, was a combination of people who were running the event being more interested in micro-managing than making sure that those who went to the event had a good, safe time, AND those who went to the event wanting to make it into their own stage and had "LOOK AT ME" signs everywhere - never mind that they never did anything as such to assist in the running of the event (they were much too busy making sure that their own internal households were doing what they needed to in order to "entertain" the populace).

Either way, it wasn't fun for the rest of us, who were there to enjoy themselves, take a few classes, volunteer a few hours to help the event run smoothly, and perhaps join in at a Bardic or two. Thus was born the non-sanctioned event (that is, an event dedicated to the same types of things that the SCA was, but without the backing or insurance of the SCA)...

Don't get me wrong - I was not in love with the non-sanctioned event, I can only say that I understand the reasons behind creating one.

This year marked the 10th anniversary of the first non-sanctioned event in the area. It also marked, for me, the end of non-sanctioned events that I would be going to. See, while the first and second one apparently were a lot of fun, and not much drama at all, after a few years it became clear to me that it had an increasing amount of drama, and not as much fun for me.

I normally stay out of drama. I tend to help out where I can (namely gate and constab, occasionally heralding announcements), and make sure that if there's more help to be needed, I get the word out to get more people up to volunteer. When it comes into, or at least crouches in front of, my gate, I have issues with it. It stops me from having a good time. And if it stops *me* from having a good time, chances are, it's stopping others from having a good time, too.

While I always understood that this event was for pirate personas (the SCA tends to frown on them as most people tend to portray the most hollywoodized versions of them, with a lot of post-1600 accessories added on for good measure), I got tired of it fairly quickly. Why? No one could actually give an accurate depiction of a pirate - over half of them couldn't even give a definition of nautical terms! It may all be pretend, but wasn't the non-sanctioned event supposed to at least have the ideals of the SCA? Apparently not... The reasons for going to a non-sanctioned event were ever-increasing alcohol and parties, and decreasing information about the era.

I remember going to classes at a non-sanctioned event... They had the same three classes every year - the only ones I remember were "The history of female pirates" Interesting, yes, but a fairly short class - because there were only a handful of them at all - and only 2 or 3 of them prior to 1600 (sorry to be a stickler, but I could go as far as 1640 and still not find another one), AND "The history of courtesans", a really fascinating subject for me - but a lot of it dwelt upon movie representations of it because that's what people could grasp easily. I'm sorry, but courtesans did NOT go out into public during the day dressed like THAT - they'd have gotten stoned. Plain and simple. How do I know? I did research because for a time, that was my persona... Simple, easy to care for clothing for daytime work. The "good" stuff didn't come out until you were at a party, or were entertaining a guest.

I only went to one event this year - it was a non-sanctioned one. I know now that I'd been simply getting more and more fed up each year with the general attitude and lack of anything to do that interested me during the day, when I compared it to a sanctioned event from last year. I was done with non-sanctioned. I didn't have anything to do at all, besides wander merchant's row and listen to raids happening outside my encampment... To put it in short, I was bored.

The return of Fred from the other non-sanctioned event, a blatent pirate event, spurred me to keep from ever wanting to return to it... Steampunk (or Deadwood, or Wild West, or whatever you want to call it) has invaded the merchants, as well as the attendees. Really? REALLY?!?! Are you SERIOUS?! I think not. I'm no stickler about a lot of things, and I certainly won't upbraid anyone about their garb, as long as they make a reasonable attempt at looking the part for the weekend... But STEAMPUNK!!?!?!?! Sorry, but if you want to play "Wild, Wild West", then do it elsewhere... You can join your buddies with the fake elf ears, pan horns, and fangs. They don't belong here! GAH!

On top of that, the local law enforcement apparently came down because of a robbery at a previous campout (non-sca type) and wanted to see whether this event had had similar issues... While there, they apparently smelled certain... GREEN substances in the air. Folks - if you have to have an escape from your escape, you are an addict and need help. Seriously. Not only that, but it's ILLEGAL!!! I don't care what it is, I don't care that you're doing it in your own tent (which, btw, does NOT keep it inside, but carries it across the whole $%#$% campground - some people are allergic, others are small children, and still others just don't want it!), and I don't care about how you feel about the law. These people completely disregarded the fact that, had they wanted to be total asshats, the local law enforcement agents could have closed down the ENTIRE site at that point and forced people to pack up and leave in the dark. Stupid. Just plain stupid, selfish, ADDICTS!

So, with that said, I will not be joining in with any more non-sanctioned events. I am looking forward to next camping season (we're too poor this year for any more), wherein I can once more feel like I'm getting something besides a weekend of stress.

~M